George Washington by James MacGregor Burns

This angered Kennedy's wife Jackie, who said Burns 'underestimated' him. Burns gained personal access that allowed him to write his biography of Kennedy, published in 1960, which calls JFK 'casual as a cash register,' 'quiet, taut, efficient-sometimes, perhaps, even dull,' and generally too cerebral and lacking in heart. Kennedy and helping him gain Protestant support to get re-elected, while Kennedy helped him gain Catholic support. Political careerĪ liberal, in 1958 Burns was the unsuccessful Democratic nominee in Massachusetts's 1st congressional district, meeting then-U.S. Award for Distinguished Writing in American History of Enduring Public Significance presented jointly by the Roosevelt Institute and the Society of American Historians. In 2004 he was also awarded the Laurel Crowned Circle Award, ODK's highest honor. During the early 1990s he taught classes at the University of Maryland, where he was inducted into Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK) and was honored with the naming of the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership. He was also an elected member of the American Philosophical Society.

A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he served as president of the American Political Science Association and the International Society of Political Psychology.

Academic careerīurns joined the faculty of Williams College in 1947, and taught there for nearly 40 years, retiring in 1986. Throughout his military adventures, Burns noticed that when leadership was mentioned, it was in terms of the traits and qualities of officers, but not soldiers. Army combat historian, and was awarded the Bronze Star and four Battle Stars. He was best known for his contributions to the transactional, transformational, aspirational, and visionary schools of leadership theory.īurns was drafted to serve in the Pacific theater as an enlisted U.S.

In 1971 Burns received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in History and Biography for his work on America's 32nd president, Roosevelt: The Soldier of Freedom.īurns shifted the focus of leadership studies from the traits and actions of great men to the interaction of leaders and their constituencies as collaborators working toward mutual benefit. He was the Woodrow Wilson Professor of Government Emeritus at Williams College and Distinguished Leadership Scholar at the James MacGregor Burns Academy of Leadership of the School of Public Policy at the University of Maryland, College Park. James MacGregor Burns (Aug– July 15, 2014) was an American historian and political scientist, presidential biographer, and authority on leadership studies. World War II, Pacific War, Battle of Saipan

George Washington by James MacGregor Burns